Dark horse Sapient Trip Ale

Brewery: Dark Horse Brewing Co.
Location: Marshall, MI
Style: Tripel
Brewery Website
Rating: B

Today we are tasting the Dark Horse Serpent Trip Ale. The beer pours up a hazy, deep gold color with lots of sediment and a short white head. The nose has lots of yeasty ester notes of banana and circus peanuts along with sweet spice notes of cinnamon and cardamom.

The palate leads off with wheaty malt notes, followed by a squirt of acidity. There are more yeast ester notes, but not as potent as the nose hinted at. The hops has a notable bite with citrus notes, but it really plays a support role here. The Serpent Trip Ale has a light-to-moderate bodied mouthfeel. The alcohol pairs with a fine fizz to leave a bit of a tingling sensation on the tongue. The finish finds a lingering hops bite with yeast and some light malt notes.

The Dark Horse Serpent Trip Ale is a nice tripel, although it is a bit on the light side. This drinks like an amped-up weissbier with an interesting hops character. Belgian Tripel and weissbier fans would do well to check this one out.